The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) Members at Southwest Airlines (SWA). This report is the only official authorized written source of negotiating communications by the Committee.

We met with the Company in Dallas, TX on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. During this one-day session we again reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) for the initial Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for your workgroup. This AIP includes changes to the tentative agreement (TA) voted down by the membership in December 2016. First on economics, the Company has agreed to increase the top of scale by $2.00, bringing the base rate for a twelve year technician to $29.13. The remaining steps in the scale are the same as the previous TA within the 2017 year. The Company has also agreed to grandfather one (1) license at $2.00 for everyone currently employed through the duration of their employment at SWA; however, in order to achieve the grandfathering of one (1) license we had to remove the up-front $4000.00 cash for first license training. The second license training provision remains as it was in the first TA with the Company reimbursing upon completion of training and achieving the license. This would then bring the total hourly rate of a topped-out technician with two (2) licenses to $33.13. The signing bonus remains 7% of 2016 401(k) eligible earnings.

The Company would not accept our request to add language to create bid location bidding. We did grant the Company language changes to overtime being paid to the quarter hour. The sides agreed that video conferencing may be used for grievances appealed to system board. The parties also agreed to add language that the Union would schedule termination grievances to arbitration within 90 days of appealing. The last language change was that an individual on furlough would now have recall rights for five (5) years.

The Company and the Union will now work to incorporate these changes into a final document, which we will again review as a committee before sending the AIP to the National Executive Council (NEC) for approval. If approved, we will put the TA out for a system-wide ratification vote of the membership. We would like to have the voting process completed within the first few week of December.